In this section

ECONOMIC HISTORY

Despite its proximity to Witney, Hailey remained until
modern times a predominantly agricultural area, practising the mixed farming typical of the region. Its distinguishing feature was the large amount of assarted land in
the north and east, much of it, from the 16th century,
inclosed pasture. From the Middle Ages much of that
land was held by townsmen and other outsiders, latterly
for sheep-rearing in connection with the cloth and
blanket industry, though from medieval times there
were also large numbers of resident peasant- and (later)
yeoman-farmers, some of whom accumulated sizeable
holdings combining open-field arable and inclosed land.
Surviving woodland was mostly kept in hand, and was
managed by successive lords as part of the Witney estate.
By the 17th century significant numbers of inhabitants
were employed as outworkers for the Witney blanket
industry, though many of them probably lived in the
township's southern part around West End and
Woodgreen, effectively in Witney, rather than in the
township's rural settlements. In addition there were the
usual rural trades, and by the late Middle Ages there was
some small-scale quarrying.

Agriculture

Woodland and Assarting

Before 13th-century assarting (clearance of woodland
for cultivation), Hailey's northern part was chiefly
woodland, wood-pasture, and heath. Most woodland lay
in the north-west adjoining Crawley, where fieldnames
incorporating the element leah (meaning 'clearing') are
concentrated (Figs. 3 and 73). (fn. 1) In 1251–2, however,
there was woodland at 'Swoney', probably near Swanhall
Farm, (fn. 2) and, since the entire township was included
within medieval Wychwood Forest, (fn. 3) some southern
parts may also have once been wooded: 'breach' names
south of the modern Hailey village imply some assarting
there, (fn. 4) and there was also assarting near Witney around
West End and Woodgreen. (fn. 5) The township's eastern part,
with few fieldnames suggesting woodland, may have
been chiefly scrubby heath in the 11th century, (fn. 6) reflected
in the medieval names Shakenoak ('deserted oak'), (fn. 7)
Hatfield (implying open heath), (fn. 8) and Merryfield. That
last name described an extensive area abutting Hailey
and North Leigh heaths from near New Yatt on the
north to south of Middlefield Farm, although, like
Hatfield, it seems never to have been a common field,
both names presumably denoting open country in
contrast to woodland. (fn. 9) As in Crawley, both heath and
woodland probably included regulated pasture, and
possibly enclosures for game: sheep way and hunters'
way, both in the north-east, were recorded in 1044, (fn. 10) and
Whiteoak (formerly Whitewyke) green, a shared
common between Hailey's and Crawley's woods, existed
possibly in the 11th century and certainly by the 14th,
when 'Whitewykewey' was mentioned. (fn. 11) Names such as
Delly, Turley, and Gigley probably also indicate small
open areas enlarged in the 13th century, but originating
much earlier. (fn. 12) Most woodland in the township seems to
have been cleared by the early 14th century, leaving only
Singe wood (85–90 a.) in the north-west, and scattered
coppices totalling another 50 a. or so. (fn. 13) The name Singe
(formerly Singeat) wood, sometimes corrupted by the
19th century to St John's wood, may imply clearance by
burning. (fn. 14)

Small-scale assarting may have begun by the 1160s
when a bishop of Winchester owed the Crown 20 marks
'from Witney', (fn. 15) but intensive and systematic assarting
seems to have started in the early 13th century, perhaps
in connection with the founding of Witney borough and
presumably on the bishop's initiative. (fn. 16) In 1209 the
bishop owed two palfreys for freeing his 'assart of
Witney' from the Forester's regard, (fn. 17) and thereafter
increments of rent for new assarts were recorded
frequently: up to 100 a. may have been assarted in
1208–9 and nearly 70 a. in 1210–11. (fn. 18) By the late 1230s
the manor contained some 490 a. of assart alongside the
old-established free and customary holdings, nearly all
of it, on later evidence, in Hailey, and most of it cleared
probably since around 1208. (fn. 19) Further assarting was
recorded in the early 1250s at Delly End, Gigley
('Kyggelye'), 'Swoneia' (presumably Swanhill), and
'Westrigg', (fn. 20) and by 1279 there was nearly 700 a. of
assart scattered chiefly across the township's central and
northern parts. (fn. 21) Thereafter assarting seems to have
virtually ceased, (fn. 22) and although in the 16th and 17th
centuries assarts were estimated at 1,400–1,600 a., by
then almost entirely inclosed, there is no further
evidence of intensive clearance. (fn. 23) Small encroachments
on the common land, often of only a few square perches,
were also recorded from the 13th century: one perhaps
near Hailey heath on the township's eastern edge was
held in 1335–6 for 1d. rent and a 2s. entry-fine, (fn. 24) and in
the late 16th century eleven small encroachments or
purprestures, some at Delly and Poffley Ends and most
of them built on, were held for 2s. 1d. in all. (fn. 25) In 1840
around 85 tenants held small encroachments totalling
some 17 a. along the edge of the commons, roads, and
woods. (fn. 26)

Open Fields and Early Inclosure

In addition to the assarted land, in the early 17th century
Hailey had some 470 a. of open-field arable in the
south-west between Hailey village and the WitneyCrawley road, which it retained until parliamentary
inclosure in 1822–4 (Fig. 73). (fn. 27) Some of that area may
have been cultivated by 1086 when Witney manor
contained 24 ploughlands, implying some arable north
of the river Windrush, (fn. 28) and although fields throughout
the manor were presumably reordered when Witney
borough was laid out in the 12th or 13th century,
Hailey's fields may have been independently organized
even before then. South field, probably north of the
Witney—Crawley road, was mentioned in 1352, and
Middle field, north of the modern Middlefield Farm, in
the 1440s; (fn. 29) in 1485 a holding was unevenly divided
between Down End field, apparently near modern
Downhill Farm and Foxburrow cross, Chalstyd or
Chastill field to its west, and a field adjoining Crawley. (fn. 30)
Open-field yardlands were reckoned in the 14th century
at 30 a., (fn. 31) and between the 16th century and early 19th
seem usually to have contained 20–27 a. of arable. (fn. 32)

The open fields seem to have been enlarged by 13th
and 14th-century assarting, both within the area of the
19th-century fields and elsewhere in the township:
assarted strips within Hailey's fields were still distinguished in the 19th century, (fn. 33) while small parcels of
assart in Witney, Hailey, and Madley 'fields', which
together covered much of the area between West End,
New Yatt, and the eastern boundary, were mentioned
frequently from the 1330s. (fn. 34) Not all were necessarily
common fields, and not all such assarts, though small
and scattered, were necessarily subject to common rotations; some apparently lay in furlongs, however, (fn. 35) and in
1475 a few acres of assart near Woodstock road lay
'divided in the open field'. (fn. 36) A small assart east of Delly
End remained uninclosed and divided into strips until
the 1820s. (fn. 37)

Other assarts may always have formed private closes,
and from the later 15th century those in the township's
northern and eastern parts were increasingly consolidated and inclosed, probably for sheep farming: a 16-a.
close of assart next to Gigley croft was mentioned in
1474, (fn. 38) and over 150 a. were inclosed by five tenants
between 1500 and 1512. (fn. 39) By 1609 assart closes covered
some 71 per cent of the township, leaving only the later
open fields in the south-west, which by then were
divided into an East and a West field; (fn. 40) they were reordered as three fields in 1613, and as quarters before the
later 18th century. (fn. 41) Burycroft (c. 49 a.), a former
demesne close adjoining the river Windrush immediately south of those fields, was taken possibly from the
arable before the early 14th century, when it was called
Inland. (fn. 42)

Common Meadow and Common Pasture

73. Hailey township c. 1816, from contemporary maps.

Small amounts of common meadow, part of 100 a.
recorded on Witney manor in 1086, (fn. 43) lay chiefly in the
south by the Windrush. In 1609, when probably already
reduced by small-scale inclosure, Hailey's meadow was
estimated at 49 a., and in 1814 at 37 a. held in 45 pieces; (fn. 44)
in the 15th century some was allocated in rota or by lot,
but by the 18th century and probably earlier most farms
seem to have retained the same pieces. (fn. 45) A holding of 21
a. and 22 headlands of arable in 1485 had ¾ a. and 6
headlands of meadow, (fn. 46) and in the 17th century some
yardlands still carried a fixed allowance, apparently
around 1¾ a. (fn. 47) By then, however, far more meadow was
available in assart closes, (fn. 48) and small parcels of common
meadow seem often to have been let independently: (fn. 49)
certainly in the late 18th century not all farms with
open-field arable had common meadow, and vice versa. (fn. 50)
In 1785 private meadow belonging to New Mill was
judged 'very good', but sometimes flooded. (fn. 51)

Inclosure of assarted woodland and heath presumably
much reduced the common pasture, which by the early
17th century consisted of Hailey heath (50–60 a.) on the
east and Whiteoak green (24 a.) on the west, together
with Woodgreen (5 a.) near Witney, and a green of 1 a. at
Delly End. (fn. 52) Roadside herbage provided another 89 a.,
with 11 a. of common road-baulks in the open fields. (fn. 53)
The common pasture allowance for a freehold yardland
in the late 16th or early 17th century was 2½ cows and
20 sheep, (fn. 54) though in 1814 the commons were said to be
stocked without limit. (fn. 55) In the earlier 19th century all
inhabitants except cottagers and smallholders also had
unregulated pasture rights in Crawley's woodland, (fn. 56) and
in the 17th century and later some private assart closes
seem to have been commonable at certain times. (fn. 57)

Medieval Tenants and Farming

Some tenants recorded on Witney manor in 1086 probably lived or held land in Hailey, (fn. 58) and in the 1230s there
were some 36 customary tenants in the township: 17
villeins had yardlands, ten held half-yardlands,
suggesting subdivision of holdings due to rising population, and there were nine cottagers, of whom one had
two holdings. Customary rents and services were the
same as in Witney's other townships. A single freeholder
occupied a hide (4 yardlands) for 8s. rent and attendance
at the lord's court, and in 1279, when part of that
holding was sublet, another free half-yardland was
leased for 2d. and a pair of gloves. (fn. 59) Assart land, by
contrast, was held in the 1230s by around 140 tenants of
whom most seem to have come from outside the township, many of them apparently Witney burgesses: three
leading townsmen held between 18 a. and 23 a. each,
though most assarts were held in smaller parcels of ½–5
acres. (fn. 60) Nearly two thirds of assart land was still held by
burgesses in 1279, though by then some was also being
taken by local tenants: 32 freeholders, none of them
mentioned earlier, held a total of 179 a. in parcels of
between 1½ a. and 17½ a., and, since many had houses,
bore local toponyms, or were apparently related to local
villeins, presumably lived in Hailey. Some villeins, too,
had by then acquired small parcels, at least one
yardlander holding 5½ a. of assart, and two halfyardlanders around 4 a. each. (fn. 61)

Rent for assarts, regarded as free land, became gradually standardized during the 13th century at the relatively high sum of 6d. an acre, with an entry-fine of 2s.
following a surrender, and of 1s. following a vacancy by
death; in the earlier 13th century rents and fines varied,
however, and were sometimes heavier, perhaps
reflecting the land's quality and whether it was built on. (fn. 62)
In the 1250s land apparently only just being cleared by
beat-burning (pro baticio) was granted for substantially
lower rents and fines, perhaps implying that lessees were
responsible for its clearance: (fn. 63) certainly assart tenants,
unlike villeins, were allowed under newly established
manorial customs to fell trees. (fn. 64) Throughout the 13th
century and earlier 14th assart land continued to be held
mostly in parcels of a few acres, and changed hands
frequently: up to 50 or 60 a. a year was regularly fined
for, and there appears to have been little permanent
accumulation of larger holdings, either by burgesses or
by local tenants. (fn. 65) Customary holdings remained fairly
stable until the Black Death, partly as a result of
seignorial policy, which tried to prevent accumulations
of property: by the mid 14th century only one holding
exceeded a yardland, and none were less than half a
yardland. (fn. 66) Medieval tenant-farming presumably
differed little from that in Witney's other townships, and
most assarts, given their small size, were probably arable,
though a demesne sheep-shed was built in Hailey in
1272. (fn. 67)

Total assessed wealth in early 14th-century subsidies
placed Hailey among middling rural townships in the
area, though average individual wealth was relatively
low, perhaps reflecting the large numbers of tenants
holding small parcels of assart. Forty-five people were
assessed on a total of £80 2s. in 1316, an average of only
25s. a head, and 47 were assessed on £98 5s. (an average
of 42s.) in 1327. (fn. 68) Wealthier taxpayers seem to have
included a range of local tenants, burgesses, and
outsiders. Richard of Standlake, by far the wealthiest in
1327 when he paid on £13, was a prominent Witney
townsman whose family held assarts in Hailey by the
1230s, (fn. 69) while the Smalprouts, taxed on £3–£4, were local
freeholders with some assart land, and a few other
taxpayers belonged apparently to local villein families. (fn. 70)
Ralph of Lew, the wealthiest taxpayer in 1316, may have
lived outside the parish, though his family had some
assart land by 1237. (fn. 71)

Mid 14th-century plague mortalities were heavy, as
elsewhere on the manor: 23 customary tenants in Hailey,
two thirds of the late 13th-century total, died during
1348–9, and though 20 holdings (including cotlands)
were filled by 1351–2, further plague in 1361 led to
long-term depopulation, amalgamation of holdings,
and leasing at negotiable rents, free from payment of
fines or heriots. (fn. 72) In 1440–1 (fn. 73) around fourteen tenants
from only six or seven families, some of them with land
elsewhere in the manor, (fn. 74) occupied the 22 customary
yardlands, of which only 7½ still owed commuted
labour-services (at the rate of 5–6s. a yardland), presumably in addition to customary rents and entry fines. The
rest were leased mostly for 6s., and one, vacated through
death that year, at 6s. 8d., while up to five cottage holdings were similarly leased for between 10d. and 14d.
each. There had been little change by 1469–70, when
nine tenants held 13½ yardlands formerly occupied by
18 people for between 6s. and 8s. 6d. a yardland. (fn. 75) Assart
land, some of which was perhaps becoming difficult to
let in the earlier 14th century, (fn. 76) was even more severely
affected: some 580 a. was vacant by 1349, 700 a. in 1352,
and still possibly over 300 a. in the late 14th century.
From about 1362 assarts, too, were sometimes let
without fine at 6d. an acre: 25 people occupied 110 a. by
1405, and in the late 15th century and early 16th a few
assarts were let for terms of years, though grants at the
relatively high customary fine of 2s. an acre continued. (fn. 77)
From the late 15th century, as population rose, entry
fines and commutation payments again became usual,
and in 1528 a new rental combined sale of works in a
new assized rent. (fn. 78)

The 16th to 18th Centuries

Consolidation and inclosure of assarts from the late 15th
century or early 16th, much of it apparently by
outsiders, presumably reflected a shift towards pastoral
and especially sheep farming in Hailey, in connection
with the expansion of Witney's cloth industry. (fn. 79) Those
responsible included leading Witney families such as
that of Martin or Bishop, closely involved in the cloth
industry and accused in 1508 of overburdening Hailey's
commons with 300 sheep. (fn. 80) Some of those taxed on large
flocks in Witney parish in the 1540s, several of whom
were Witney clothiers or manufacturers, may also have
pastured them in Hailey, (fn. 81) and certainly in the late 16th
century some large blocks of inclosed assart were held by
prominent Witney inhabitants such as Leonard Yate
(with 141 a.), Philip Box (92 a.), and Richard Humfrey
(95 a.), as well as by Francis Wenman of Caswell (133
a.). (fn. 82) At least 800 a. of assart, more than half the total,
was pasture in 1609, much of it presumably for sheep. (fn. 83)

The wealthiest Hailey taxpayer in the 1570s and
1580s, the farmer Thomas Walter (d. 1589), also seems
to have lived in Witney, though other 16th-century
taxpayers were resident Hailey farmers such as the
Smiths, Sparrowhawks, Hornes, and Bowmans, many
of whom held amalgamations of freehold, customary
land, and assart. (fn. 84) Robert Bowman (d. 1599), whose
son Edward (d. 1612) left goods worth over £380 and
whose immediate descendants acquired gentry status,
was tenant in the 1590s of half a yardland, 17 a. of freehold, and 41 a. of assart, together with lands in
Crawley. (fn. 85) There was evidently widespread subletting,
licenses for which were issued frequently in the manor
court. (fn. 86) Although there was more inclosed pasture most
resident farmers continued to pursue mixed agriculture, growing chiefly wheat and barley with some beans,
peas, and vetches. (fn. 87) Oats, maslin, and hemp were also
mentioned, (fn. 88) and several testators left malt mills or malt:
in 1713 one wealthy mixed farmer left 60 qrs worth
£55. (fn. 89) Many middling farmers kept small flocks of up to
80 sheep, (fn. 90) and a few kept more: Robert Yate (d.
1639/40) of Swanhall Farm, by far the wealthiest
17th-century inhabitant with goods and produce worth
over £500, had 140 wethers in nearby assart closes, and
John Smith (d. 1634), another prosperous mixed
farmer, had a flock worth £80, numbering possibly
200–300. (fn. 91) Cattle, pigs, and poultry were also kept: Yate
left 21 cattle, (fn. 92) and there was evidently some dairying,
several 17th-century testators leaving cheese presses.

Customary rents and fines varied greatly by the late
16th century and earlier 17th, rents for a yardland
ranging from from 6s. to around 15s., and entry fines
from around 6s. 8d. to 20s. Similarly varied rents, some
still in kind, were owed for 46 a. and 2 yardlands of free
land let in small parcels, though assart rents and fines
remained standardized as earlier. (fn. 93) Copyhold, as elsewhere on the manor, developed during the 17th and
18th centuries into copyhold of inheritance or 'customary freehold', quitrents from Hailey in 1759 totalling some £57 year. (fn. 94) A complex pattern of landholding
persisted, with a mixture of Hailey residents, Witney
townspeople, and outsiders building up some sizeable
copyhold estates, many of which were sublet; most larger
farms, some of them centred on houses built on outlying
assart closes during the 17th or early 18th century, (fn. 95) thus
comprised amalgamations of copyhold and leasehold,
occupied under several owners. (fn. 96) Leases were increasingly at commercial rents: in 1662 a small inclosed farm
was let for around £37, (fn. 97) and New Yatt, Merryfield, and
University farms, each between 65 and 100 a., were let
for £45–£60 by the later 18th century, the rent for
Merryfield (which was partly sublet) being thought
excessive. (fn. 98) In the 1760s the curate reported that the
'better sort' of inhabitants were chiefly rack-renters, and
that most others were too poor to contribute to church
collections. (fn. 99)

In 1776 it was suggested that one farm might support
a higher rent if let in parcels to Witney tradesmen, (fn. 100) but
continuing amalgamation during the 18th century
resulted by the 1790s in a few dominant farms. Swanhall
farm, over 120 a. by the mid 17th century when occupied by the Yates, was sublet to tenant farmers from the
early 18th, (fn. 101) and in 1794, with New Yatt farm (115 a.)
and other holdings, formed part of a 330–a. farm assembled by Samuel Druce, much the largest holding in the
township. Two other amalgamations, one of them
including Gigley and Turley farms and the later Hailey
Manor House, exceeded 200 a., and at least four others
(including University and Middlefield farms) were over
100 a. each. Downhill farm was 68 a., Burycroft 49 a.,
and Shakenoak 42 a., though there remained many
smaller holdings: nearly a hundred landholders and over
60 occupiers were recorded in all. Most larger farms still
comprised a mixture of open-field arable and inclosed
assart, though a few, including Druce's combined farm,
were wholly inclosed. Mixed farming continued: in 1794
the township was 63 per cent arable and most individual
farms over 50 per cent, the chief exceptions being farms
adjoining the heath at New Yatt. (fn. 102)

Parliamentary Inclosure

Hailey's common arable fields and meadows, by then
just over 500 a., were inclosed between 1822 and 1824
under an Act of 1821, when around 32 landholders
received allotments which varied from less than an acre
to around 62 acres. (fn. 103) Common pasture at Hailey heath,
New Yatt, Hatfield Pits, and Whiteoak green was not
inclosed until 1849–53 with Crawley's commons, over
60 Hailey landholders receiving awards comprising, in
varying combinations, allotments of mostly less than an
acre, compensation payments of up to £4 4s., and annual
rent-charges of up to 33s. 10d.; the rent-charges were
imposed on newly established labourers' allotments,
which together totalled 24 acres. Around 44 a. in Hailey
common was sold to 21 purchasers in parcels of up to 8
a. to defray expenses, and an award for manorial rights
included 1 a. also in Hailey. (fn. 104) Common rights in Crawley's Chase woods continued until the inclosure of
Wychwood Forest in 1857, (fn. 105) and in the 1890s Hailey's
officers still received tolls for pasturage on Woodgreen
and perhaps on Delly green, both of which were awarded
to them as recreation grounds in 1853. (fn. 106)

Though loss of commons may have affected small
holders and townspeople, the impact of inclosure on
Hailey's farms was limited because of the large proportion of existing closes: in 1841 there were 19 farms over
40 a., of which only six exceeded 100 a. and the largest
(New Yatt farm) was 151 acres. (fn. 107) Henry Calcutt of
Middlefield farm accumulated 300 a. by 1861 when he
employed 19 labourers, (fn. 108) but though several farmhouses
fell vacant or were used as labourers' accommodation
during the mid 19th century, only three other farms
exceeded 100 a., and at least five smallholders still had
under 50 a. (fn. 109)

The 19th and 20th Centuries

Farming remained mixed after inclosure, with perhaps a
small bias towards arable: in 1841 the township
remained 64 per cent arable, and in 1877 around 71 per
cent. (fn. 110) Stock sold from Middlefield farm in 1856
included wheat, barley, oats, clover, and hay, besides 195
sheep (chiefly Cotswold, Leicester and Southdown
breeds), 24 pigs, and a milch cow. (fn. 111) Crops on the smaller
Burycroft farm included sainfoin and turnips, (fn. 112) and in
1881 University farm had 60 sheep, 9 cattle, and 17 pigs,
and grew barley (15 a.), wheat (14 a.), beans and peas (7
a.), and oats (3 a.). (fn. 113) Most farms seem to have been
reasonably managed, and the soil, though light on the
stonebrash, was generally judged fair. (fn. 114) A threshing
machine was in use on Middlefield farm in 1856, and
land on University farm was drained in 1881. (fn. 115)

Agricultural depression seems to have affected the
area intermittently throughout the 19th century. Falling
rents may have affected Samuel Druce's decision to sell
up in 1816, and reductions continued in the early 1820s
when a vetch crop on at least one estate failed. (fn. 116) In 1851
and 1852 Hailey charity trustees approved a 12½ per
cent rent reduction because of low prices, (fn. 117) and bad
seasons, low prices, and rent reductions were mentioned
in the late 1870s and still in the early 1890s. (fn. 118) In 1887
agricultural distress was noted by the vicar, who
reported 21 vacant houses and mounting tithe arrears. (fn. 119)
The poverty of agricultural labourers, frequently underemployed in the winter and many earning only 12–15s. a
week without cottages, was alleviated in the early 20th
century by availability of small allotments of up to 5½ a.;
they were occupied chiefly by labourers and artisans who
grew barley and potatoes and bred pigs, using manure as
fertilizer. A single horse owned by one labourer worked
all the land. A slightly larger mixed holding of 25 a. was
worked by a local builder, and another of 40 a. grew
wheat and barley with some beans and mangolds, refuse
from woollen mills providing fertilizer. (fn. 120)

In 1914 Hailey remained around two thirds arable,
the chief crops being barley (21 per cent), wheat (17 per
cent), and oats (11 per cent), with some swedes, turnips,
mangolds, and potatoes. Pigs were reared in relatively
high numbers, and cattle and sheep farming continued,
though flocks were diminishing and sheep farming was
less intensive than further west. (fn. 121) A few farms remained
copyhold until the abolition of copyhold tenure in 1926,
sales being accompanied by formal surrenders and
admissions, but otherwise all farms, as earlier, were
treated essentially as freehold. (fn. 122) Most leading farmers
were lessees, with a few, such as the Calcutts of
Middlefield farm in the 19th century and the Benfields at
Gigley Farm from 1919, being effectively owneroccupiers. (fn. 123) In 1920 there were around 20 farms, of
which only Gigley and Swanhall exceeded 150 a. each. (fn. 124)

In 1941–2 there were 14 chief farms of between 60 a.
and 341 a., seven exceeding 100 a. and three (New Yatt,
Witheridge, and the largest, Swanhall) exceeding 200 a.
All were mixed in varying proportions, the chief crops
remaining much as in 1914, with some kale for fodder
and, on Swanhall farm, 20 a. of flax. Dairying, poultry-keeping and pig-rearing dominated pastoral
farming, and very few farms kept sheep. Over 20
smallholders with up to 45 a. kept livestock and a couple
grew oats. (fn. 125)

Woodland Management

Singe wood, 89 a. in 1840, (fn. 126) was administered probably
throughout the Middle Ages and certainly from the 16th
century with the rest of the Chase woods in Crawley,
being coppiced in rota on a 10–12 year cycle. (fn. 127) In the
19th century and presumably earlier some nearby copyhold estates had 'hedge acre', the right to cut small
amounts of underwood adjoining the coppice's
boundary wall. (fn. 128) After the clearance of Crawley's woodland in the later 19th century (fn. 129) most of Singe wood was
sold apparently to the Pratley family, local timberdealers and woodmen; 9 a. south-west of Wood Lane
became attached to Hailey Manor House, and in 1948
was chiefly oak with hazel undergrowth. (fn. 130) By then the
wood's north-western and south-eastern parts seem to
have been chiefly orchard, and in the 1970s, when the
wood contained stables and three or four houses, a small
central part was scrub and rough pasture, though the
wood's perimeter remained unaltered. (fn. 131)

Other scattered coppices, mostly between ½ a. and 8
a., were held from the 17th century and probably earlier
with the assart-closes among which they lay, the largest,
Caulkhill coppice (27 a.), being held by the 18th century
with New Yatt farm. (fn. 132) Several other inclosed farms had
valuable timber in the hedgerows or in pasture closes:
170 elm and a few oak and ash were noted on University
farm in 1783, (fn. 133) and 220 pollard ash and elm were sold
from Middlefield farm in 1801. (fn. 134) Caulkhill coppice was
reduced during the earlier 19th century, and some other
coppices in the late 19th or early 20th, leaving only Jobs
and Taylors copses and one or two small scattered plantations by the 1980s. (fn. 135)

Trade and Industry

General Trades

Thirteenth- and 14th-century surnames, apparently
hereditary, included Smith, Cooper, and Carpenter, (fn. 136)
and a mason was noted in 1442. (fn. 137) Several masons and
carpenters and a few tailors, some of them in New Yatt,
were mentioned during the 17th and 18th centuries, (fn. 138)
together with a blacksmith in 1613, a cooper at Delly
End in 1670, and a shoemaker in 1773. (fn. 139) Other
tradesmen included a moderately prosperous hatter in
1712, a tallow chandler at West End about 1718, and a
slater and maltster in the 1770s. (fn. 140) Traditional craftsmen
continued throughout the 19th century, presumably
serving Witney as much as the township itself: in 1861
there were, excluding those in Woodgreen and West
End, around 14 masons, 7 carpenters, 3 cordwainers, 2
coopers, 2 blacksmiths, and a tailor, scattered among the
township's rural settlements. Nine woodmen, 6 sawyers,
and a timber merchant were noted also, mostly at
Whiteoak green. (fn. 141) A baker was mentioned in 1827, (fn. 142) and
in 1841 there were two bakers and a butcher in Hailey
village, and another butcher at Whiteoak green. (fn. 143)

Clothworkers

Involvement in Witney's blanket industry accounts for
the fact that in the early 19th century more Hailey families were usually reported to be involved in trade and
industry than in agriculture. (fn. 144) From the early 17th
century fullers and tuckers, broadweavers, and clothiers
were mentioned frequently; (fn. 145) their wealth and status
varied considerably, and some of the more prominent
lived probably at West End or Woodgreen rather than in
the township's rural part. (fn. 146) William Bird (d. 1675), a
Hailey clothier with a house in West End, left 2 looms
and made cash bequests exceeding £40; (fn. 147) the clothier
Joseph Selman (d. 1758), who held Turley farm and
other lands, made bequests of over £300, (fn. 148) and his relative William Selman (d. 1767), a 'very considerable
blanketter . . . with great reputation', was co-lessee of
New Mill. (fn. 149) Several blanket-weavers or blanket-makers
were of comparable wealth and presumably ran small
businesses: John Levett (d. 1730) left over £630 chiefly in
mortgages and bonds and appointed members of the
Early family as executors, (fn. 150) while Bulstrode Barry (d.
1773), with two shops, left two looms, wool and yarn
worth over £60, and some 60 blankets and 'stripes'
worth as much again. (fn. 151) By contrast a broadweaver in
1625 left goods worth only £4 including wool and wool
yarn, three woollen wheels, a rack, and a cow, while
another in 1679 left household goods worth £18; since
neither left a loom, they perhaps rented one or worked
for a master in a Hailey or West End weaving shop. (fn. 152) In
the early 1820s the blanket-weaver Jeremiah Biggers also
ran a printing and book-binding business, probably at
West End or Woodgreen. (fn. 153)

Spinning and carding, not generally recorded,
presumably supplemented the income of poorer families; some of Bulstrode Barry's wool in 1773 was 'at the
spinning houses', though whether those were private
cottages or specialized sheds is not clear. (fn. 154) Fullers
included, in 1576, one of the prominent Bishop family,
whose business was presumably based elsewhere, (fn. 155) but
most later fullers worked probably to contract at New
Mill, where several had fulling racks in the later 18th
century. (fn. 156) Some had apprentices (fn. 157) and were probably
moderately prosperous: one in 1682 left personalty of
£56, chiefly in money and debts, and another in 1761
had a 'mansion house' at Woodgreen. (fn. 158)

From the late 18th century mechanization increasingly concentrated Hailey clothworkers at New Mill and
in the Earlys' weaving shops at West End. (fn. 159) By the mid
19th century there were numerous spinners, fullers, and
weavers employed 'in the factory', other employees in
1861 including foremen, a skinner, and an engine
cleaner. Most lived in cottages at New Mill or on Crawley
road, and others at West End and Hailey Fields; only a
few were noted at Delly or Poffley Ends and Middletown,
and none at Whiteoak green or New Yatt. (fn. 160) By then a
gradual decline in Witney's woollen manufacture may
have been causing underemployment: (fn. 161) in 1802 this was
cited in support of Hailey's inclosure which, it was
hoped, would create more agricultural work, (fn. 162) and in the
1850s and 1880s decline in trade allegedly rendered New
Mill's value 'uncertain'. (fn. 163) In the early 20th century it was
claimed that, compared with Crawley, a higher proportion of Hailey's inhabitants relied on agriculture rather
than more remunerative employment in the mills;
nevertheless New Mill provided local employment until
its closure in the 1950s, (fn. 164) by which time an increasing
number of inhabitants were commuters.

Other 20th-Century Trades

A saddler at New Yatt was recorded until 1907, a blacksmith at Hailey in 1915, and carpenters in 1920, but
thereafter traditional crafts largely died out. In the later
1920s and 1930s there was a builder and undertaker in
Middletown, and in 1935 there were still two shopkeepers, a butcher, and a baker, with another baker at
New Yatt. (fn. 165) In 1999 there was a single shop in
Middletown, together with a car saleroom and, at New
Yatt, a small motor-repair garage opened before 1935. (fn. 166)
A riding school existed at Poffley End, and there were
stables near Whiteoak green and at Common Leys Farm,
and a pony stud at University Farm.

Quarrying

Quarry piece was mentioned in the 1590s, (fn. 167) and in the
19th century several scattered closes bore the name
Quarry or Old Quarry. (fn. 168) Quarry ground, sold in 1883,
produced building stone said to have been used for
Oxford prison, (fn. 169) and in 1895 land in Hailey's southern
part was thought to contain good stone reserves, 'as
existing quarries testify'. (fn. 170) Two small quarries adjoining
Milking Lane were opened about 1945. (fn. 171)

Mills and Fisheries

The Medieval Fulling Mill

A fulling mill in Hailey, recorded from the early 13th
century to the early 14th, stood on the river Windrush in
the township's southern part, apparently on or very near
the site of modern New Mill: Fulling Mill furlong,
immediately north of the existing mill, was mentioned in
1485, (fn. 172) and the adjacent Burycroft was associated with
the former mill-holding throughout the 15th century. (fn. 173)
The mill was separately recorded only from 1223, and
was probably one of several fulling mills built in Witney
manor in the late 12th or early 13th century in connection with the borough's emerging cloth industry; (fn. 174) 13thand early 14th-century lessees included the prominent
Witney burgess Robert Ailine, together with a family
surnamed Fuller. (fn. 175) Its fortunes largely followed those of
the town's early cloth industry: in the 1220s it was let to
two tenants for a total of 60s. a year, increased to 70s. by
1237, but by 1262 the two halves were let for only 25s.
and 20s. respectively. In 1296–7 one half was in decay,
and though both were let at unreduced rents until the
early 14th century, by 1317–18 the mill yielded nothing
and was probably derelict. (fn. 176) Adjacent land and meadow
continued to be let throughout the 14th and 15th centuries, latterly with Burycroft, (fn. 177) but the mill itself was not
mentioned again, and was presumably demolished. (fn. 178)

New Mill

In the 1580s the wealthy Witney fuller and clothier
Thomas Box acquired the lease of Burycroft and an adjacent meadow in order to build a tucking mill there, for
which he constructed a new mill-leet. The mill, called
New Mill thereafter, was functioning by 1589. (fn. 179) Half of it
stood on adjoining copyhold land north-east of the mill
stream, and the mill was held in two parts until the late
19th century, the south-western part leasehold and the
other copyhold. (fn. 180) The Box family retained both parts
until the earlier 18th century, when the leasehold half
passed first to non-resident tenants, some of them
possibly trustees, and in the 1760s to the 'considerable'
Hailey blanket-weaver William Selman (d. 1767), from
whom it passed in thirds to his sons Joseph (d. 1772) and
William (d. after 1808) and son-in-law John Humhpries
(d. 1783), all blanket-makers. From the 1790s they and
their heirs and executors mortgaged their share,
acquired in 1808 by the Witney builder William Long
and the solicitor Charles Leake. (fn. 181) The copyhold part
passed in the mid 18th century to Thomas Horne of
Witney Park, before 1800 to Selman, and before 1815 to
Leake and Long. (fn. 182) During the early 19th century both
parts were sublet separately or together to local spinners
and blanket-makers, including, by 1818, Edward Early
(d. 1835) of Witney, his brother John (d. 1862), and
their brother-in-law Paul Harris, the three occupying
the whole premises in partnership certainly by the
1820s. (fn. 183)

In 1830 Leake and Long sold both parts to Edward
and John Early, Edward receiving the copyhold part and
John the leasehold. The latter passed in 1862 to John's
son Charles Early (d. 1912), owner of the leading blanket
firm Charles Early & Co., who bought the freehold from
the Ecclesiastical Commissioners in 1883. The northeastern copyhold part, run as a separate concern, passed
to Edward Early's son Edward and grandsons Thomas
and Walter, but was reunited with Charles's share on
Walter's death in 1894 and was converted to freehold. (fn. 184)
Thereafter Charles Early & Co. retained the combined
mill, run at first as part of the subsidiary firm of Edward
Early and Son, until its sale during rationalization of the
firm's premises in the mid 1960s, when it ceased to be
connected with blanket manufacture. (fn. 185) In the mid 1970s
the mill was occupied by an electronic engineering firm
specializing in aircraft antennae, and in the late 1990s,
after some years standing vacant, by a marine electrical
engineering firm and by book-lending and educational
companies. (fn. 186)

Mill Buildings(fn. 187) Fires destroyed or damaged New Mill
in the late 18th century, and in 1809, 1818, and 1883. (fn. 188)
In 1785 the buildings were in good condition, (fn. 189) and
there were racks nearby in 1788 when eleven master
fullers, presumably working to contract, complained of
theft of blankets there. (fn. 190) By 1809 the leasehold part was
'old' and in need of repair; the buildings were of stone
and slate, and the leasehold part contained two wheels of
which one drove the fulling mill, and the other a spinning machine recently installed by a subtenant. (fn. 191)
Edmund Wright (d. 1808), subtenant of the copyhold
part, also pioneered mechanization. (fn. 192)

After the fire of 1818 the mill was rebuilt on the same
plan and alignment, (fn. 193) the Earlys introducing new
machinery built by Edmund Ogden of Rochdale
(Lancs.); the mills were chiefly used for carding and
spinning thereafter, some for other blanket weavers but
most for the Earlys themselves. (fn. 194) In the mid 19th century
the buildings, substantially constructed of stone and
slate, comprised a long north-south range of two full
storeys and attic extending across the mill stream, with
adjoining ranges mostly of three storeys extending westwards along both banks. The main (east) front was lit by
rows of regular square windows, and the attic storey,
housing spinning machines and hand mules in 1883, by
continuous glazing under the roofline (Fig. 74). Three
wheels, two of them in the leasehold part, were supplemented by steam power before 1861, the engine housed
in a projection built onto the east front. (fn. 195) Improved
machinery was introduced by Charles Early from the
1850s and by Thomas and Walter Early about 1882, and
in 1883 the two mills together contained, besides
carding and spinning machines, a willey shop, gig mills,
scribbling machines, and a tucking shop and blanket
room. (fn. 196)

74. New Mill from the east, c. 1830.

After the fire of 1883 the mill was rebuilt on the same
alignment by the Witney builder William Cantwell, as
two storeys only and with loftier, more open rooms.
Some ground-floor walling was retained, together with
part of the north-west range and a two-storeyed cottage
at the range's west end, built probably after the fire of
1818. (fn. 197) The building is of coursed limestone rubble, with
red-brick heads to most windows in the main east front,
and some salvaged masonry reused in the upper parts.
The mill was refitted for carding and spinning, with
provision for doubling mop-yarn; fulling and finishing
machinery, if reinstalled, was removed soon after, and
the mill continued as a carding and spinning factory
until the 1950s. Blending of dyed and coloured wool was
also carried out there in order to segregate it from the
white wool treated elsewhere. (fn. 198) In 1912 the premises
included, besides the main factory, an engine-house and
chimney stack, bleach houses, drying sheds, and workshops. (fn. 199) Two large breast-shot water-wheels, perhaps
predating the 1883 fire, were used in conjunction with
steam power, and remained in the 1960s. (fn. 200) Conversion of
the mill in the mid 1990s, when the buildings required
considerable renovation, included insertion of an upper
floor in the main range's southern part.

New Mill Cottages A house stood immediately north of
the mill by 1814, (fn. 201) and by the 1840s there were up to nine
cottages for factory workers, including two attached to
the mill itself. The freestanding cottages were demolished during the mid 20th century and replaced by a
house and stone-built terraces a little further east, some
of them incorporating stone from the demolished mill
chimneystack. (fn. 202)

Fisheries A copyhold fishery in the river Windrush,
extending from Witney Mill to Crawley bridge, seems to
have been held with New Mill from the 1590s, passing
from the 17th century with the copyhold part. (fn. 203) It was
converted to freehold in 1894 and still belonged to the
mill in 1952. (fn. 204)

Windmill

Windmill piece or furlong, north of the Crawley road
between Milking Lane and the Hailey road, was recorded
in the early 19th century, but no windmills are known. (fn. 205)